The Seanad’s electoral system was described as “bizarre, elitist, unbalanced and anachronistic’’ by Independent Senator John Crown.
Prof Crown was speaking during a debate on his Private Members’ Seanad Electoral Reform Bill 2013, extending the vote in elections to the Upper House to the whole electorate and Irish citizens living abroad.
Core deficit
“This addresses the core deficit in the Seanad, which is the democratic deficit, that is, the fact that few people in Ireland have the opportunity to participate directly in the election of the representatives of Seanad Éireann,’’ he said. Prof Crown said the Taoiseach’s “constitutional lock’’ on appointing 11 members to the Seanad would be retained because no part of his Bill challenged the Constitution.
In 2009, he said, it was proposed that every citizen would have a vote in the Seanad, as was the case in his Bill.
“The issue is how to properly achieve this shared objective, which has been recommended in 11 reports,’’ Prof Crown said.
“An election that excludes the majority of citizens from participation lacks proper legitimacy and we all agree that the issue must be addressed.’’
Nominating bodies
Under his Bill, he said, the nominating bodies would be removed from the process and replaced with a requirement to have 1,000 signatures in support of a nomination.
Minister of State for the Environment Paudie Coffey said he was not convinced the Bill could fully deliver the required reform.
He said the Bill, if implemented, could give rise to significant costs which did not appear to have been comprehensively analysed and would have huge impact on the exchequer.
